I spent my first day in New Hampshire, hiking Mine Falls Park. The following day, I headed south of the state border into Massachusetts, and covered 5 trails on that trip. While Massachusetts did have a few highlights along the trails, none of them came close to what I originally found in New Hampshire.

So the following day, I took the opposite route, and went north to Merrimack, a nice homely town in the Live Free or Die state.

I chose Wildcat Falls entirely on a whim that morning, after finding out another trail I had planned on visiting was reserved for mountain bikers.

Wildcat did not disappoint.

Picking a Route

When I go hiking, unless there’s something spectacular for me to see, I like to just head onto the trail and go where my feet take me. So far, it’s worked. I’ve never gotten lost in the woods before.

This time, the spectacular sight I didn’t want to miss was the waterfall, which meant taking the Falls Loop Trail. Once I had identified the route I needed to take, where I was relative to the markers, and where to make the first turn, it was time to get started.

Fun Fact: Apparently, I was so focused on mapping my hike, I never noticed that bear country sign until I was going back through the pictures when I got to the hotel. 😅

The Swamp

One of the first things I noticed when I entered was a swamp-like-pond covered with a green film of algae. If you’ve watched my vlogs, then this is where I shot my introductory commentary on my first impressions of Wildcat Falls.

Directly beyond the swamp was a small stream that seemed to be formed from drainage infrastructure. Even so, it was beautiful, in its own way.

With findings like these, I advanced on to the Falls Loop, confident that this trail would wow me. I was not wrong. This trail would become the most beautiful New England trail of the 8 I hiked on my trip.

No surprise there, right?

Starting the Loop

I knew the little pond and drainage area could never feed a waterfall, so while I walked, I kept an eye out for a larger waterbody — a river of some sort.

I had to climb up onto a rock to get this, but selfie sticks are good for more than just pictures of yourself. During my trip, it helped me hold my camera high enough to take pictures that would have otherwise been impossible. These were some of them.

Some also required scrambling down river banks to get a closer look. Totally worth it, and even better — I managed not to fall in.

And better than even that? The view between the trees. It was so peaceful here, even though it had more foot-traffic than any of the other trails I visited in New England.

The Waterfall

The longer I walked, the louder the roar of the waterfall. When I stumbled upon this little damn here, I knew I had to be close.

The fall wasn’t as big as I had anticipated. In fact, it wasn’t big at all, but it was beautiful all the same.

The Way Back

I did end up on the red trail, and tacked on another .6 miles to my route by accident — all because I insisted on following the river.

Buy I quickly realised what I had done, and followed it back to the Falls Loop.

Once back in the loop, the autumn colours intensified, reflecting in a much larger swamp than I saw at the front of the park.

After this, I made my way out and headed to the Lobster Boat in Merrimack for lunch. I raced through my meal much faster than I would have liked, but I had to. I had one more trail to see before I left New Hampshire, and I wanted to make sure I got there with plenty of sunlight left so spare.

Stay tuned for the last beautiful piece of New Hampshire I had the pleasure of exploring!

My trip to New England was booked by 1 View Point, our in-house travel agency at Alexis Chateau PR. My wardrobe (ASK ME HOW I GOT HERE shirts and hoodies) was designed, and sponsored by 1 View Point and Alexis Chateau PR in celebration of our #November31 campaign.

We’re providing 1/2 off booking fees this November to celebrate a year of travel-testing, and our official launch. Email us for details!